1. The Women's Rights Movement

2. Many women were involved with the fight for the abolition of slavery. Despite this, women were NOT allowed to attend the World Antislavery Convention. Many women began to realize that they too needed to fight for rights.

3. In the 1800s, women had few political or legal rights: ·Women could not vote ·When they married, a woman gave up all of her property to her husband ·If a woman worked, her wages belonged to her husband ·A husband had the right to hit his wife as long as he did not seriously injure her ·Women were not allowed to speak in public Many women became fed up with being treated as inferior. A movement began that sought equal rights for women.

4. Sojourner Truth: She was a former slave who became outspoken about both abolition and women’s rights. I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that? ~Sojourner Truth

5. Seneca Falls Convention: The first meeting held to discuss women's rights. Held in Seneca Falls, NY. July 19-22, 1848 Seneca Falls, NY About 200 women and 40 men

6. ·The two most influential women at the meeting were Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. ·Declaration of Sentiments: A document based on the Declaration of Independence, asking for equal rights at school, work, and in church. ·Some wanted to demand the right to vote, but this part was left out of the document. ·Susan B. Anthony was inspired by this meeting and began speaking across the country on behalf of women. ·The door had been opened for women like Elizabeth Blackwell, who became the first female doctor.

7. In studying the origins of the Women’s Rights Movement, we have the opportunity to reflect upon the status of women in America today. Below you will find a series of “common beliefs about women” from the mid-1800s. You should have already written down your thoughts about the statement. We will debate each of these statements as a class, discussing whether or not we think America in 2010 has changed its views since the 1800s.

8. 1. Women are not as intelligent as men.

9. 2. Women should not be allowed to vote because they should be concerned with issues at home, not public issues.

10. 3.Women are physically weaker than men.

11. 4.Women should not own property. Their “property,” including any wages earned at a job, belongs to their husbands.

12. 5.It is improper for women to speak in public. This role should be reserved for men.